It’s likely too late for this year, but in the future we might consider reducing the starting budget to like $110 or something, so that the player values will be a little more intuitive, and autodraft might not be a disaster.
We considered that in year 2, I think, and people voted to keep it the same. I don’t recall the arguments, but I think the sentiment is that everyone should really attend the draft anyway. Maybe it was easier to remember values set in the league from previous years as a reference to the values under different sorts of scarcity. But yeah, we could put it up for a vote again next year.
I just put the divisions in. We sorted divisions out two years ago by number of years in the league. Wilson and Boozahol Squid were both replaced, by Dalej42 and VarlosZ. Both of them came from division 3, which otherwise features Overly Sentimental and 2 of his off-board friends. So I just replaced them directly and otherwise maintained the division - it’s the least disruptive way of doing it. Plus Dale and Varlos have previous years in the league, so division 3 is probably about right anyway.
The last couple of years I’ve been hosting whoever wants to come in a voice chat program during the draft so we could chat. It’s free and easy to set up. If you don’t have a headset, you can sign in just to listen to keep up with the conversation, and I think there are iOS and Android versions, so you can use it on your phone or tablet. If so, a headset is preferred but not mandatory, since you can get feedback.
You can download it here (or your phone’s app store). Run through the setup wizard. Set a push to talk key even if you don’t have a mic (some people have a weird glitch the first time they log in where they have to hit the transmit button once before they can hear everyone else). If you can’t hear anyone talking, that’s why.
Press the connect button, click add new, and then use the following information. Remove the asterisks from the address name, I’m just putting those there in case of random web crawlers come across the info.
Label: SDMB (or whatever you want)
Address: Silverbolt.blue***fangsolutions.com
Port 22622
PM me if you have any trouble, I’ll try to be there at least 45 minutes before the draft to help people get it all set up. I do recommend trying it - I think last year we got about half to 2/3rds of the league in there and it keeps the draft more interesting.
I love this league, even though I got jobbed in the playoffs last year (second highest regular season score, lost to a team with ~200 points less in the first round). It’s just so huge and ridiculous.
And, of course, I’m going to hammer this home. This draft runs long, usually around 3 and a half hours. Every person needs to nominate a person in sequence - there’s a nomination order like a draft order. It’s very easy for you to see when it’s going to be your turn to nomimate. Be ready to do so. Don’t take more than 3 or 4 seconds to nominate. We’re drafting several hundred players, so if everyone takes an extra 20 seconds to nominate players, we’re looking at adding an hour to the draft of totally avoidable, pointless down time.
It doesn’t matter who you nominate - just nominate the top guy on the list. Until we’re down to $1 bids where people are filling out their rosters, it just doesn’t matter - your $1 opening nomination bid will be outbid, so it literally doesn’t matter who you nominate. Even late in the draft, when you’re filling out your roster with $1 guys, you should know who you’re nominating before it hits your turn.
There is no reason to not be prepared to nominate players quickly. Pay attention.
And so, once again, I have drafted a team full of hope and promise, only to undoubtedly have my dreams of a Big Win dashed against the rocks of an errant pass or unwarranted butt-fumble. And yet I go ever onward, as I must - the dream shall never die!
/goes 8-8
/barely misses playoffs
/drinks fifth of Jack
/doesn’t even get a buzz
/tries again next year
QB: RGIII ($16) Shaun Hill ($6):
I really got the most with the least here. I overpaid for Hill by about $2 compared to guys like Fitzpatrick or Carr, but RGIII for $16 is insane. I don’t usually backup QB in this league, but Hill was available, and RGIII is a bit of an injury risk
RB DeMarco Murray (Dal - RB) $47 Lamar Miller (Mia - RB) $11 Knowshon Moreno (Mia - RB) $21 Chris Ivory (NYJ - RB) $6 Marcel Reece (Oak - RB) $3
I have an acceptable number of starting rbs, though none are my favorites, and I was somewhat dismayed to learn Moreno passed Miller, though I’m glad I was able to get both. Dunbar would have been nice to handcuff Murray with, so I have to pray this is Murray’s 1 year to be healthy
WR
4. (34) Victor Cruz (NYG - WR) $31
7. (122) Kendall Wright (Ten - WR) $18
8. (150) Dwayne Bowe (KC - WR) $12
10. (176) Kelvin Benjamin (Car - WR) $8
Cruz was a good price, Wright should be good in ppr, Kansas City and Carolina have to throw to someone. I would like one more on the bench, but with a backup QB and TE, sacrifices had to be made.
TE: Olson $14 Eifert $2
I targetted Olson because of Carolina’s situation, and probably overpaid a bit. If I knew I was going to get Eifert at $2, I would have definitely saved my money. I normally never go 2 TE, but I couldn’t pass up Eifert for 2. Hopefully I’ll never have to start him in the flex.
Overall I like my team balance, and even have a few bench players, though I don’t like how many of my guys are risky, especially my running backs, who are all either health concerns or at risk of losing their jobs/space in their timeshare.
Moreno hasn’t passed Miller. He’s slated for third down/change of pace duties. Full draft results:
Near the end of the draft I made the upsetting discovery that Andrew Luck and Ryan Fitzpatrick have the same bye (10). So Beef and I agreed to a trade in which I would nom Latavius Murray and send him and Fitz to Beef for Blake Bortles and a player whose name I have now forgotten. I thought it was Benny Cunningham but Beef did not draft him so maybe it was Tre Mason.
Also, he challenged me to make a prediction on the SDMB that I made on Mumble, so here it is: Shane Vereen will have 1500+ total yards this season. My money is most definitely already where my mouth is: I now own him in four of my five leagues (this one, Dynasty, All-Pro and my off-board league) and I would own him in the fifth (He Hate Me) if some bastard hadn’t swooped in ahead.
Yeah I made a note in the trade offer that I think I said Tre Mason the first time and then Benny Cunningham when we brought it up again. I got the two mixed up, as (in my mind) equal tier St Louis lottery tickets. I made a note that if you want to reject or rework the deal because of that, that’s fine.
Can I have Andre Williams?
Draft recap!
I’m obviously pretty happy with my running backs, as high as I am on Vereen. Ball showed enough in the last 5-6 weeks of 2013 that he can be a top five RB as long as he is taking handoffs from Peyton. DeAngelo Williams is pretty much the definition of a serviceable backup and I expect him to produce ~1000 total yards like last year. Everyone knows I hate starting wideouts in my flex spots so having a third back who will see the field in every game was critical. Given how much I spent on my starters, I decided not to bother with my usual technique of drafting lots of backups. I planned to handcuff Ball but couldn’t get Ronnie Hillman; there will probably be a committee if Ball goes down, so Anderson will do.
My wide receivers are Jordy Nelson and a pile of scrap. Sanu is going to start in Cincy for at least four weeks and his problem until now has been that he doesn’t get enough snaps. He could very well be a #2 if the Bengals throw as much as they did last year. Boykin was a great value where and when I got him but I’m not thrilled about starting two receivers from the same offense, even if it’s Green Bay. I’m quite willing to trade him, in fact. James Jones was a bit of a panic pick because Cody Latimer had just gone off the board and he was my entire plan for the backup WR spot. I made up for it later with Caldwell, who will play the Welker role for the first four weeks (and was very productive doing it last year).
Heath Miller is pretty much the archetypal low-end TE1. Last year he played on a surgically repaired knee and still had ~500 yards, so I expect to get ~750 and close to 10 touchdowns.
I had planned to take a Romo/Dalton $15-20 type as my #1 QB; Romo served very well as my QB in this league last year. Luck seemed to be going a little too cheaply so I decided to bid him up a little and ended up with him. Based on the later quarterback values he looks like a steal. Fitzpatrick was basically the last locked in starter left and I needed a backup; as noted above, I goofed there. I’m happy to have Bortles instead, who is bound to have taken over for Henne by Week 10. I’ve seen every one of his college and preseason snaps so I know exactly what I’m getting - a solid dink-and-dunker with great pocket presence who’ll mix in the occasional spectacular downfield throw when not pressured. He’s also got a little rushing ability, very much in the Luck mold.
McManus is a sneaky pick; he’ll kick for the Broncos until Prater gets back and at that point I’ll grab somebody else on waivers. He ought to knock in a long field goal or two every home game and obviously he’ll have lots of XP opportunities. I’m almost as high on Houston’s defense this year as I am on Vereen; the pass rush has been unfair at times in the preseason and last year they were pretty good despite all the offensive turnovers.
Here’s my quick recap for the Robber Barons, formerly Scissor Me Timbers:
Robber Barons
Budget $200
- (6) Doug Martin (TB - RB) $47
- (27) Michael Crabtree (SF - WR) $23
- (44) Arian Foster (Hou - RB) $42
- (75) San Francisco (SF - DEF) $7
- (109) Philip Rivers (SD - QB) $21
- (121) Pierre Thomas (NO - RB) $22
- (128) Brandin Cooks (NO - WR) $10
- (132) Justin Tucker (Bal - K) $1
- (154) Antonio Gates (SD - TE) $4
- (158) Ladarius Green (SD - TE) $5
- (184) EJ Manuel (Buf - QB) $2
- (207) Knile Davis (KC - RB) $3
- (211) Cody Latimer (Den - WR) $7
- (221) Marqise Lee (Jax - WR) $2
- (226) Jerricho Cotchery (Car - WR) $3
QB: Rivers (21), Manuel (2)
I’m not thrilled with Rivers - he always seems to be boom or bust, and I much prefer consistency. I’m pissed I missed out on Newton because I couldn’t get my shit together and hit the bid button, but whatever. Manuel for $2 is fine, but I think I’d rather have some more upside.
RB: Martin (47), Foster (42), Thomas (22) Davis (3)
Terrible depth here that is most likely going to be my downfall. Foster and Martin are solid RB1 and RB2 in a league this size, and I didn’t overpay. Thomas was great value for $22, and should see plenty of looks from Brees out of the backfield to bump his value up a bit. Davis at $3 might be huge, even if Jamaal doesn’t get hurt - I think he’s going to get 75-100 touches as a change of pace back, and could very well see some goal line action. If Charles goes down, I drastically improve my chances in this league.
WR: Crabtree (23), Cooks (10), Latimer (7), Lee (2), Cotchery (3)
WR depth is always something I’m always trying to build in this league. There are tons of WRs to go around, but consistency is king - and if I can develop a player or two off of my bench that I might be able to trade someone for a slight upgrade somewhere, it’s always been worth it. Crabtree is a great WR1 at $23 with a lot of potential to pay dividends. Cooks at $10 is about right - just enough risk to make it interesting, and Brees has no trouble spreading the ball around. Figuring out each week who’s going to start between Latimer, Lee and Cotchery could be interesting, but with Welker out, Latimer has a solid chance to make his worth a WR3 slot.
TE: Gates (4), Green (5)
$9 may be a little too much to secure the San Diego TE, especially if they split duties at all. I’m counting on someone emerging, and likely overpaid for the privilege. Wish I’d just waited for Eifert, and spent the extra on a better QB. Guess we’ll see.
K: Tucker (1)
Tucker’s the #3 kicker on my board, and I’m surprised no one wanted to pop an extra buck in to take him. There’s not a ton of variation at the position, but there is some - and it’s interesting that people aren’t willing to make such a small investment to take advantage of.
DEF: San Francisco (7)
Same logic here, though $7 is about my cap for a defense, even in a 20 team league. SF is going to be a consistent performer I can count on without having to worry too much about matchups, and that’s worth the piece of mind for that valuable roster slot to remain stable.
Frosted_Lightning
Budget $200
- (41) Aaron Rodgers (GB - QB) $46
- (58) Zac Stacy (StL - RB) $39
- (70) Stevan Ridley (NE - RB) $20
- (71) Alfred Morris (Was - RB) $39
- (92) Phil Dawson (SF - K) $2
- (99) DeSean Jackson (Was - WR) $27
- (114) Jeremy Maclin (Phi - WR) $18
- (219) Cleveland (Cle - DEF) $1
- (241) Malcom Floyd (SD - WR) $2
- (256) Rod Streater (Oak - WR) $1
- (270) Coby Fleener (Ind - TE) $1
- (281) Kirk Cousins (Was - QB) $1
- (291) Brandon Gibson (Mia - WR) $1
- (296) Robert Woods (Buf - WR) $1
- (299) Travis Benjamin (Cle - WR) $1
QB: Aaron Rodgers $46, Kirk Cousins $1
Originally my plan was to go with a mid range QB for $20-$30 but this group is so different than my other leagues and my pricing was a bit off. Once I saw the actual price range for mid-level QB’s I figured it would be crazy to pass on a sub-$50 Rodgers. I know that losing the starting Center has made people really nervous and doubtful about his upcoming season but Rodgers is a stud. He puts the ball in the endzone and doesn’t turn it over a lot.
Cousins is well worth $1. In this league I like to have a backup QB to prevent fully punting on my QB1 BYE week. Also, RG3 doesn’t like to slide so I think he will be looking at a season that is closer to Vick’s 8-game model. Cousins looked good in preseason so I expect him to be a competent filler by Week 9. If he gets promoted earlier I will definitely be ready to make a trade which actually brings me to the next position.
RB: Zac Stacy $39, Stevan Ridley $20, Alfred Morris $39
After picking up Rodgers, I knew I needed an RB. I backed off of Bush earlier in the night and got gun shy on Gore, so at this point I was just thinking about nomming Stacy and hoping I could get him for around Le’Veon Bell money. With Bradford out, I was very happy to get Stacy at $39. The Rams offense is going to give Stacy plenty of opportunities and he ran well last year.
Ridley at $20 made me pretty happy. Normally, I dread RB committees but in this league a shared goalline RB is a good option. Ridley will get his chances to vulture TDs until he starts fumbling the ball again. Still, I like the potential for Ridley to pick up rushing yards even if Vereen is a more favorable passing threat RB.
Morris is a great way to round out my RBs. It seems like people are a little down on him for some reason but he did well this season and should only improve with a healthy RG3.
I am happy with my 3 options but my RB situation is extra thin. I will definitely be looking to make some moves to add a little depth here.
WR: DeSean Jackson $27, Jeremy Maclin $18, Malcom Floyd $2, Rod Streater, Brandon Gibson, Robert Woods, Travis Benjamin $1
Jackson should do well with the Redskins. As much as I hate seeing him stay in the NFC East, I think he will be able to make the most of playing in that system. I was a little unsure on the price until I looked around at other similar options. As a deep threat, I am more than willing to spend money on Jackson.
I feel good about Maclin and think that he is underappreciated. I understand all the talk about Chip Kelly’s system not catching people by surprise this year but Maclin is still going to feature heavily as a WR. Sure, the Eagles will mostly be the Shady show but they are going to throw the ball around a lot too.
Floyd and Streater were two picks that I did not expect to get for $2 and $1 respectively. I did not think they would be more than $5 but in this league, the upside for these two WRs is pretty great. When healthy, Floyd puts up nice numbers and should be a nice complement to Allen. A lot of this will depend on how well Rivers does but I feel good about him stepping it up. Streater isn’t a top choice but he gets a lot of targets. Definitely worth the $1 for the fact that he generally puts up decent yardage for 2nd option.
The rest of my WR corps is just guys I’m hoping to see step up later.
TE: Coby Fleener $1
I completely forgot about Allen being back when I picked up Fleener with Allen still on the board, but it should be fine. Fleener will get a handful of TDs and so will Allen. Pretty much a coin flip between these guys and being down to $1 max meant no chance of getting Delanie Walker, so this works for me.
DEF: Cleveland $1
I was surprised to pull this off for $1 at the time since people still had some money. Considering that we actually need a halfway decent D in this league for the extra points, I figured I would get outbid on this one. Pretty happy that I was able to lock up Cleveland.
K: Phil Dawson $2
Yup, you read that dollar value right.
I like my team but I have some concerns about potential depth issues, particularly at RB. As much as I like my RB starters, I am hoping to find at least a flex guy to add some much needed support. Overall though, I am pretty happy with this draft.
I’m making a trade with RNATB. We made an agreement in the draft to the trade, and he used his last dollar on Murray because I wanted him. But I screwed up and told him I had Benny Cunningham rather than Tre Mason. I told him to rectify the difference in value, I’d send him $12 of my FAAB dollars as part of my trade. A few years back, we voted to allow FAAB dollars to be part of trades, mostly to help people who missed the draft build a team, but it helps to balance out slight imbalances in trades.
Anyway, the trade is: I send him Blake Bortles and Tre Mason and $12 FAAB dollars, RNATB sends me Ryan Fitzpatrick and Latavius Murray.
I guess since I won the medal for Best Draft from Yahoo, I probably should give a recap. Still, there’s lies, damned lies, and Yahoo Projections… I’ll be happy if I just make the playoffs this year. Anyway, on to the draft.
Living Through Them (A riff on a Ray Lewis rant that was a lot funnier in my head than on paper. I’m not good at the comediez.)
I got to nominate first, which is neither here nor there. What I did prior to the draft is go to Yahoo’s list of players and sorted each position by the projected points for this season. I then printed out a list of the top 50 players (top 100 for RB and WR), with their projected points. This way, I could have an idea of what players were going for as the draft went on, as well as any points tiering. It’s not that I have any faith in Yahoo’s projections vs anyone else’s; it’s that our league is so wonky with the scoring that I don’t have a good gut feel for who’s a stud and who’s overrated.
- (10) Matt Forte (Chi - RB) $62
- (38) Matthew Stafford (Det - QB) $33
- (62) Carlos Hyde (SF - RB) $8
- (77) Jason Witten (Dal - TE) $13
- (101) Danny Woodhead (SD - RB) $14
- (103) Julian Edelman (NE - WR) $22
- (130) Cecil Shorts III (Jax - WR) $15
- (133) Brian Hartline (Mia - WR) $9
- (141) Markus Wheaton (Pit - WR) $9
- (155) Benny Cunningham (StL - RB) $3
- (179) Cincinnati (Cin - DEF) $4
- (181) Cody Parkey (Phi - K) $1
- (215) Pittsburgh (Pit - DEF) $2
- (224) Roy Helu Jr. (Was - RB) $2
- (240) Teddy Bridgewater (Min - QB) $2
Unused $1
QB: Matthew Stafford, $33; Teddy Bridgewater, $2
From my list, and past experience, I knew that Peyton, Rodgers, and Brees were going to be ridiculous. Stafford’s the first guy after them, though he’s not much different than Ryan through Romo (Who I think is going to be much better than his projection, provided his back holds up.) Romo at $25, heck the next two QBs, RG3 at $16 and Alex Smith at $9 (?!), were great buys. Still, if you leave out Romo, the 310-325 pt tier went for 30-33, so I’m o.k. with the bid. Stafford’s Week 9 bye ruled out several of the later backup QBs, and I got outbid for Shaun Hill, so Bridgewater it was. I “think”, hope really, that he’ll beat out Cassel by Week 9 but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.
**RB: Matt Forte $62; Danny Woodhead $14; Carlos Hyde $8; Benny Cunningham $3; Roy Helu Jr $2. **
There aren’t many one man band RBs anymore, and fewer still that catch a lot of balls. I rode Charles a lot further than I had any right to last year, and I’m hoping Forte will do the same. Especially now that Michael Bush isn’t there any more. Last year’s 1339/74 rcp/594 rec yds/12 tds would plug a lot of holes. To get them, you’ve got to pay. At least he was cheaper than the 65-69 going rate, though Murray’s 47 looks like a great buy. Heck, Lynch for 59 looks outstanding, if he plays the next 15 games like last night. Of course, if Forte goes down (or gets concussed for awhile), I’m screwed. Woodhead is surprisingly valuable in a league like ours. He’s giving up 20-25 pts/yr to the Jacksons and Gores of the world, but costs about half as much. I overpaid for Hyde, I think, unless Gore goes down. Cunningham and Helu are wait and sees: will Stacy shoulder the load in StL and how many catches is Helu going to snag this year?
WR: Julian Edelman 22; Cecil Shorts III 15; Brian Hartline 9; Markus Wheaton 9.
Land of Just a Guy. Edelman is a bottom of Page 1 receiver, with Vincent Jackson (who I think will substantially outperform him) and Fitzthulhu. Ballpark 50 points off the Bryant/Megatron/D. Thomas tier. But also a lot less than 52-56, and I needed to save somewhere. Still cheaper than VJax at 33 or Keenan Allen at 31. I figured Bortles was going to have to throw to someone, and Shorts looked as good as any. (Didn’t know about his hammy issues.) Would rather have Brandin Cooks for 2/3 the money. Hartline is fairly predictable the last two years: ~75 receptions ~1050 yds, a few TDs. I’ll take boring predictability for 9. Markus Wheaton is a lottery ticket-ish. I’m hoping he takes over the Mike Wallace role as one of Ben’s favorites. I’m hearing all the right things anyway. I probably need one more WR. But they’re the easiest to find of all the offensive positions on waivers.
TE: Jason Witten 13.
Decent playmaker, Romo’s going to have to throw the ball a ton this year, and I couldn’t afford the Gronks and Julius of the world, never mind Graham. Though Graham is 70 points ahead. Silly. Happy to get him at 13.
DEF: Cincinnati 4; Pittsburgh 2.
Cheaper than the 5-7 the Carolinas and Tampas were going for, 3rd team projected. Though Seattle may be worth the 7 dollar premium. Certainly I’d trade an extra 4 dollars for 40 more points. The Steelers were best of the rest, and I didn’t want to spend 3 bucks. And I just can’t put faith in Cleveland, sorry.
K: Does it really matter? Though it was funny to see how high Rackers got drafted after that one year of his. Even though he wasn’t going to Mexico City again. FWIW, Parkey’s supposed to be a well thought of rookie. Philly should score a lot, the end.
It’s all a crapshoot anyway, especially with injuries. After last year, where I thought Matt Schaub was going to turn the corner and set records, I certainly don’t trust my judgment. Glad the season’s finally started.
Swung for the fences and used half my FAAB budget on Josh Gordon in the hope that something gets worked out to change the drug policy. I think it will happen. Goodell has been the butt of jokes for the 2 games for beating your wife, but a year for smoking weed. Fans pay top dollar for NFL tickets and they want to see the best men on the field. So, I do think something will get worked out to reduce the ridiculousness of the suspensions for recreational drugs.
If not,well, I’ve blown my budget, but that’ll mean I don’t get to pick up whoever the breakout player is in week 1. If I get decimated by injuries, I’m not winning the league anyway.
Interesting idea. Is there some rumor his suspension will get reduced even after he lost his appeal?
Quite a lot of chatter about that on sports talk radio the last day or so. The Wes Welker suspension has also added to the rumor mill. We shall see. I’m so ready for the end of, “Two games for beating your wife…”
Dang, my $100 wasn’t good enough for Forsett
Yeah, I’m now wishing I’d saved $1 during the draft.
I think you lucked out by not winning that waiver claim. Forsett is a career journeyman who will be back off the radar in a week or two.